Help!!!! Neighbor says guineas are swarming everyone at her house (except her).

[rajanomm]

I have 11 guineas I raised since I got them as day old keets in July. They have been free ranging for the past month. They started going through the fence to the neighbors this past week. After my dad cut the grass a couple of days ago, they spend a lot more time over there in their over grown yard eating grass seeds. Now my neighbor is mad and says they swarm her grand kids (10 & 16) and daughter and have pecked their legs and shorts.
I'm having a hard time believing this, as these guys are scared of strangers and don't come close enough to us or our company that come over to touch us or so we can touch them.
Her kids are scared of anything and everything. She has not seen it, only hears what the kids say.
Does this behavior sound plausible?
We have 5 acres and live in the country. I got them for tick control. How seriously should I take her issue of my guineas in her yard if they are not actually trying to hurt anyone. By the way, her cat pretty much lives in my yard and her old dog killed lots of my mom's chickens years ago and she never once tried to keep the dog home (no fence on her property or tying it up).
I don't want to go back to feuding with my neighbor, but I also do not want to allow their paranoia dictate my guineas.
I told her I would make sure and leave a patch of grass for them next time we mow.

 

[Pork Pie]

I guess keeping peace with the neighbours is probably a priority (regardless of how inconsiderate they may have been in the past). I cannot image any situation where guineas or chickens would approach strangers, so I'd say thats a load of twoddle. However, two wrongs don't make a right and all that... At the end of the day, its her property and you have a duty to ensure that your guineas are kept out of it, if thats what she wishes.

Could you fence the area where you property meets hers?

Good luck with your nutcase next-door!
CT

 

[rajanomm]

We have 5 acres and it is completely fenced. But guineas are small enough to go through the fence. Even if they weren't, they can fly right over it. They are wild birds. If I put them in the coop pen, I might as well sell them. I got them for tick control. We had lots of ticks the last year. My mother died 2 months after a tick bite 2 years ago of severe illness that resembled symptoms of tick bites.

 

[Pork Pie]

Guess your neighbour will just have to suck it up then

Good luck though!

 

[N F C]

Since you asked for opinions, here's mine...if you're a responsible animal owner that cares about their animals, you have a responsibility to keep your animals on your property. It doesn't matter why the neighbor said she doesn't want your birds on her property, it only matters that it is her property and your animals are not welcome there. Maybe they are afraid of them, maybe she doesn't want to deal with the poop, maybe she doesn't want to feel responsible for them or just wants to enjoy her property her way, maybe she wants to use a pesticide and doesn't want to make your guineas sick...it doesn't matter why.

For the well-being of your birds and to keep the peace, keep your animals off her property. I don't know where you live but around here, if an unwanted animal is on my property, I have the right to get rid of it, whether that be having animal control pick them up or me shooting them. Don't risk losing your birds just because you think she's unreasonable. It's her property and she doesn't want your animals on it, period.

 

[MakeshiftAcre]

I recommend penning the guineas at night. Mine are penned at night and still handle tick control.

I have one guinea of whom I would believe that he would attack adults, let alone children. If he ever does, he becomes someone's dinner. Perhaps tag your guineas, perhaps with different paint color/patterns on their backs, and ask your neighbor to identify the ringleaders. I have heard that tempera powder in vegetable oil is good for tagging.

 

[donrae]

Since you asked for opinions, here's mine...if you're a responsible animal owner that cares about their animals, you have a responsibility to keep your animals on your property. It doesn't matter why the neighbor said she doesn't want your birds on her property, it only matters that it is her property and your animals are not welcome there. Maybe they are afraid of them, maybe she doesn't want to deal with the poop, maybe she doesn't want to feel responsible for them or just wants to enjoy her property her way, maybe she wants to use a pesticide and doesn't want to make your guineas sick...it doesn't matter why.

For the well-being of your birds and to keep the peace, keep your animals off her property. I don't know where you live but around here, if an unwanted animal is on my property, I have the right to get rid of it, whether that be having animal control pick them up or me shooting them. Don't risk losing your birds just because you think she's unreasonable. It's her property and she doesn't want your animals on it, period.

I heartily second this. I don't know why you think it's okay for your animals to go to your neighbor's property. You don't like her animals on your place, so do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It's just responsible animal ownership.

 

[rajanomm]

I didn't say I think it's fine for my animals. I talkrd to her before I got my cat, because he is an outside cat to run off chicken eating strays, because outside cats wander. I have restrained all dogs we have owned here, so none can roam to the neighbors. I discussed getting guineas with her before I bought them, because you can't keep them in a fence, and she had no problem with the plan. I do not believe my guineas have touched or have tried to touch her grandkids. She has not seen them do this herself. I have a problem locking these guineas in a small pen for the rest of their life simply because her grand kids are paranoid, especially after I discussed getting them with her first. Guineas will fly over and fence you have. So I would literally be locking these wild birds into a tiny pen permanently. This does not fly with me, especially since they were bought and raised to eat ticks on our 5 acre property.
And yes, I coop them up every night, and plan on keeping them in the pen the first month or 2 of the breeding season to keep them safe.

 

[Blooie]

I'm sure she was fine with it when you said you were going to get guineas. What she didn't expect was that she would also end up with guineas. She probably anticipated that they'd be around but not in her space all of the time. They aren't hers. If she'd have wanted some, she'd have gotten herself some. But now she has yours. And perhaps your guineas didn't really bite the grandkids, but she was afraid they might and exaggerated it a bit in the telling so that you would take her concerns more seriously. Obviously you didn't do anything the first time she asked, and she may have felt that stretching the truth a little was the only way she might get your attention. Fact is, anything or anyone threatening my grandkids better stand by because they are about to run into a buzz saw the likes of which they've never seen. Just because you haven't SEEN them bite at the children does not mean they haven't.There's an old saying, "The only person who doesn't hear the dog barking at 2 am is the owner of the dog." My grandkids don't have to be hurt for me to take action - if they are scared then that's all I need to know.

It's clear that you really wanted a natural way to rid your property of ticks. (Oooh I hate those things so much just typing the word gives me the weebies!) You don't want a hostile situation between you and your neighbor. Look, I see your points very well. I get that you don't want them confined in any way, But that's your problem to deal with and should not be hers. You took on that responsibility when you ordered them. You didn't see this coming, even knowing that they would be free ranging, simply because I'm sure you figured that with that much acreage they'd stay put. They didn't and your neighbor is unhappy about that. She has every right to be. I'd have already had the shotgun out if I'd informed a neighbor that his/her critters were encroaching on my property and they did nothing.

I've read your posts a couple of times and I still am not sure what you are asking here. Are you looking for help with your problem or validation of your opinion and folks in your corner against the neighbor? Suggestions have been given but since they aren't what you want to hear you seem to be getting a little defensive. We don't want that - we just want to try to help you keep your guineas and not have any more problems with the neighbor.

Dabbing a bit of color on them so she can identify the troublemakers seems like a very good idea - it lets her know that you are taking her concerns seriously, that you do want to fix the situation, and gives her the chance to be pro-active in the solution instead of just looking out the kitchen window and getting angry. Chicken wire is cheap and you could simply unroll it against your existing fence and zip-tie it place so they can't squirt out. You could put them in a larger version of a chicken tractor and move them from place to place on your property to keep right on doing what you want them to do - zap ticks. (Oooh there's that word again!)

Tuck your resentment into your pocket and let her see you are working on solutions instead of just getting irritated with her. As I said, if you lived next door to me, where to keep those guineas would no longer be an issue, so you've been lucky so far. Good luck with the entire situation. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders so if you start thinking with it instead of thinking with your irritation I'll bet this could be resolved very quickly. And by the way, they are are pretty birds!

 

[EggsBeesSeeds]

Since you asked for opinions, here's mine...if you're a responsible animal owner that cares about their animals, you have a responsibility to keep your animals on your property. It doesn't matter why the neighbor said she doesn't want your birds on her property, it only matters that it is her property and your animals are not welcome there. Maybe they are afraid of them, maybe she doesn't want to deal with the poop, maybe she doesn't want to feel responsible for them or just wants to enjoy her property her way, maybe she wants to use a pesticide and doesn't want to make your guineas sick...it doesn't matter why.

For the well-being of your birds and to keep the peace, keep your animals off her property. I don't know where you live but around here, if an unwanted animal is on my property, I have the right to get rid of it, whether that be having animal control pick them up or me shooting them. Don't risk losing your birds just because you think she's unreasonable. It's her property and she doesn't want your animals on it, period.

This.

Although your guineas are afraid of strangers, you said they are reported as going after small children. I've witnessed, on many occasions, my guineas ganging up and going after housecats, bobcats, and even large dogs (75lb+). A small child may fit in to that category in their heads. I mean, guineas kill poisonous snakes together by surrounding the snake and each going in for a peck. All the while making a ruckus. It isn't too far of a stretch to think the guineas are potentially doing this to a kid (since they try it regularly with my poor old dog!). Especially a scared kid.

Blooie seems to have some great proactive solutions. I recommend trying the paint color thing. Also you may be surprised how effective chicken wire or small hole fencing is along your fences. Although guineas fly, they tend to stay terrestrial most of the time. Especially as they age. They usually get from point A to point B by squirting through holes in fences, gates and the like. I don't know how many times I've had to "save" a guinea from the other side of the fence. A fence they could easily fly over. But instead they just pace back and forth, looking for a hole that doesn't exist. If small hole fencing doesn't do the trick, wing clipping may be in order. I know it isn't ideal living in the country but it may be the difference between keeping your guineas and having to get rid of them.

I have noticed once guineas have "completed" their circuit in an area, they tend to abandon it for awhile. So if you block the area off and they can't get to it for awhile, they may not try after awhile. There was an area on my property they loved for about 4 months. I saw them there every day. Then one day they just stopped going there. That was 5 months ago and they JUST started going back there again. I don't know if this is common with other guineas or if it is just mine. I know they really like to explore. Maybe they just got tired of that place because they saw it all and got bored! Maybe someone else can offer more info on whether or not that is the way guineas are or if mine are just...weird.

Hopefully you can find a solution that allows you to keep your guineas. They are fantastic tick control! I haven't found a tick on my dog in almost a year!!! *knock on wood*